A Brief History of All Things Fred Perry

Fred Perry must be one of the defining brands in British fashion history. That famous logo is emblazoned on much more than the classic polo shirt these days and we all love their fab footwear range, but how did it all begin for Fred Perry?

If you know your tennis then you’ve probably heard of Fred Perry, let’s face it there aren’t that many top British tennis champions through the ages and Fred was one of the best of his era. It all started in the 1940s; Fred Perry was the Roger Federer of his day with three Wimbledon titles under his belt and, like the stars of today, was soon approached to put his name to all manner of sports products. The first cool item to bear the Fred Perry name was a simple sweat band, and the Fred Perry brand was born. That humble sweat band was soon followed by that fashion classic, the Fred Perry polo shirt, except, with Fred being a top tennis pro, it was of course a tennis shirt bearing the classic logo.

Fred Perry-Legendary Sportswear

The origin of the logo is a story in itself and the wrong choice could have changed British fashion history. Not unusually for his generation, despite being a keen sportsman Fred was a keen pipe smoker and, at one point, was keen to use a pipe as the logo for the Fred Perry brand. Luckily his more fashion minded business partner, an ex Austrian footballer no less, suggested it might be a turn off for female fans and common sense prevailed. Eventually the laurel wreath was chosen and has stayed with the brand to this day, and has become synonymous with Fred Perry British heritage, fine sportswear, polo shirts and, of course, the Wimbledon championship.

Fred Perry gear really took off as fashion wear in the 1960s when the informal but slightly dressed up look suited Mod culture aficionados. The Fred Perry shirt, then available only in a Tennis friendly white looked great when dressed up with a sharp Italian suit but also looked great dressed down with more casual wear and became a firm favourite, then a classic. Retailers were soon receiving requests from customers to ask Fred Perry to create polos with more colour on them (at this point, they only came in white), especially around the sleeve, cuffs and collar. And the rest, as they say, is history, Fred Perry is now a favourite fashion brand with a modern edge that never stands still long enough to look its age.

Fred Perry Online at Foot Asylum

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